Time Well Spent
by NoneOfThisWorld
Summary: After saying good bye to Martha, or so he thought, the Doctor finds himself in an old cathedral fighting a Dragon. That's where he meets Sister Penelope, a nun looking for a little more to her world than just the concrete walls of her church, or at least that's the story she tells him. The Doctor will soon find out that Penelope isn't all that she seems.
1. 1: Dragons

**A/N: Ah, late night posting. I usually write my craziest stuff half asleep. Though it doesn't always make much sense the next morning. Anywho, here's another Doctor Who fanfic. This one takes place right after Martha but just before Donna. Kinda like a slight detour the Doctor takes before Donna pops back into his life. It's not a one shot exactly it's more of a...well you'll see.**

The church was quiet as ever aside from the light humming. The sun trickled in through the multicolored stained glass giving the room a mystic appearance. Penelope lit a candle and closed her eyes in prayer. She mumbled to herself with a silent Amen. Just as she let out a breath a loud crash sounded behind her. She spun on her heals, eyes wide in terror as a huge, green scaled creature raced past. Not too far behind, followed a man in a brown coat and blue suit.

"What' the-" she mumbled glancing at the ceiling, she whispered, "forgive me," then dashed out of the room.

An eerie clanging sound, like metal on cement caught her attention, drawing her towards the direction from which it came. Following the sound she found the creature as well as the mysterious man. The creature wavered back and forth, cornering the man.

"Is that...is that a?" Penelope mumbled.

"Get back!" the man yelled. "You'll be much safer if you, back out of sight slowly, then run!"

Penelope opened her mouth, then closed it again, and opened it again having the appearance of a fish, "But that's a dragon!" she exclaimed.

"Not exactly," the man shook his head, "just get out of here!"

Penelope looked from the man to the dragon and back before throwing her arms in the air, "OI! DRAGON! OVER HERE! COME GET ME!"

The creature turned its head to face her. It's eyes were glowing bright red, smoke falling from its nostrils.

"Oh poo," she sighed, "What have I done?" Turning on her heals, she high tailed it out of there. Moments later she heard the sound of chains scrapping along the ground along with heavy claws thumping towards her. She picked up her pace but it's been a long time since she's had to run so hard or run at all for that matter.

The creature drew closer, catching up. It let out a roar as it nipped at her ankles. Its tongue slithered out reaching for her legs. Closer and closer as it picked up speed merely inches away. Just as its tongue was about to wrap around her leg, its tongue fell to the ground, severed from the creatures mouth. The creature cried out in pain, stopping in its tracks.

Penelope turned to see what had happened when she spotted the man once again. He was holding an axe in both hands, standing in front of her. "Cylamonian," he said, stretching out the word. "Chop their tongue off and it renders them motionless. It's one of the biggest weaknesses and yet their greatest aspect. They can reach much further than you might imagine with their tongue," he glanced at her, beaming ear to ear. "But they use it quite sparingly since it's they're weakest point." He looked back at the creature, "It'll grow back," he shrugged, "Eventually. Leaves me with enough time to get rid of it."

Penelope stepped up alongside the man, gawking at him, "Excuse me sir, but if you don't mind me asking...who are you?"

The man rose a curious brow, "Well look at that, an American accent," he announced, his face lighting up, "My apologies, sister. My name is The Doctor."

"The Doctor?" Penelope echoed.

The man nodded.

"Doctor Who?"

"Oh, I always love that part."


	2. 2: Bald

"Just the Doctor," he replied.

Penelope scrunched up her face in confusion, "Just the Doctor? What are you? A band? You can't just be the Doctor? You must have a proper name?"

The Doctor pursed his lips, "Nah, just the Doctor," he glanced around the building, "Well I ought to get going. Sorry about the mess," he added, referring to the trail of broken wood and stone left by the dragon creature thing.

"You're going? Where? And what about the dragon?" Penelope inquired.

"Like I said, it's not a dragon, they're called Cylamonian. Marvelous race really. I'll take her back to her planet where they will take care of her from there on out. Goodbye, miss...or sister, sorry," the Doctor corrected himself before turning to leave.

Penelope ran up alongside him, "Her? Planet? Are you saying she's an alien?"

The Doctor stopped mid stride then turned to look at the young woman, "I'm sorry, I don't want to say much more about it. I'd rather not interfere with your beliefs, sister."

"You'd be surprised, Doctor. Try me," she assured him.

"You really don't talk like a nun, do you?"

Penelope stared back at him, a soft smile on her lips.

The Doctor furrowed his brow, "At night, when you look up at the sky, what do you see?"

Penelope thought for a moment, "Well, Doctor, I don't really have a great view of the sky from my room..."

"Come on, I know nuns are devoted, but it's not like you spend your whole life in the church?"

Penelope gave a short shrug, "Not exactly, but I really don't get out often. The few times I do get to see the sky I'm always amazed at how many millions and millions of stars there are in the sky," she said in a breathy tone.

"You mean to say you're always in this building? At all times?" he frowned.

Penelope was hesitant, "Something like that."

"Why is that?"

Penelope looked around at the cold cement that surrounded them, "I don't know."

A small smile grew on the Doctor's face, "Would you like to see the world?"

Penelope beamed, "More than anything."

"What about the other sisters?"

"What about your dragon?" Penelope deflected.

The Doctor's eyes widened, "Oh right, I got to get her out of here," he started to run off, then turned to look at Penelope with a grin, "So what do you say? Want to go on a trip?"

"Absolutely!"

The Doctor gestured for her to follow, "Well come on then!"

Penelope didn't even hesitate when he asked for her to come. Within seconds she was at his side, following him to wherever he was leading her. After a few turns he stopped out front a blue police box sitting the middle of the great hall of the church.

"Why is there a blue phone booth in the church?" Penelope asked.

"Phone booth? You Americans are silly. It says police box right on it," he opened the door, "Here, take a look."

"Sorry...habit," Penelope frowned moving forward without hesitation, "I still even say fish sticks rather than fingers," she added as she looked inside. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but what she found took her by surprise. "Oh my God!"

The Doctor rose a confused brow.

"I'm sorry, I mean...my goodness," she said. She slowly entered the blue box, taking each step with caution. "Wow...she's beautiful," she gasped.

"What? No, _wow, it's bigger on the inside?_" he asked.

Penelope smirked, "Puh-leeze, I've seen enough sci-fi movies back at the-" she cut herself off and turned to look at the Doctor wide eyed, "Just don't tell the church," she added quickly.

The Doctor gave a quick nod, "Of course. I'll even make sure to have you back at a reasonable time," he assured her.

Penelope feigned a smile, "Great..."

"Right, shall we?" The Doctor asked as he closed the door to the blue box and threw his coat onto the weird, giant coral growing out of the ground. She looked to her left notice the coat rack, but shrugged it off.

"First things first, we need to return the Cylamonian to her planet and then we'll be on our way." He turned a few knobs, flipped a few levers then yelled, "Allons-y!"

The ship jerked, tossing them this way and that. Penelope had to struggle to stay up.

"Oh, and by the way," the Doctor spoke up, "Welcome to my TARDIS."

"TARDIS?"

"T-A-R-D-I-S," he spelled out, " Time and Relative Dimension in Space," the Doctor replied. "It's my ship."

"Oh..." was her only response before rubbing her head.

The TARDIS came to a slow before giving another jerk when the released a hold on the Cylamonian and landed. The Doctor came up alongside Penelope eyeing her, "Are you ok?"

"Fine, fine," she assured him, waving him off, "Just...trying to take it in, I s'pose."

"You sure?" he asked once more placing the back of his hand on her forehead, "You're burning up!" he announced in general shock.

"I'm fine!" she snapped, "Jesus!"

"You're not a nun, are you?"

Penelope spun her head around so quickly that it threw her off balance, but she managed to catch herself on the console, sending them off, out of the planet.

The Doctor rushed off towards the controls, adjusting their direction then turned his attention back towards Penelope. He narrowed his eyes at her, but didn't say a word.

Penelope lowered her eyes, smoothing out her coverings and shook her head, "No...I'm not," she admitted reaching for her head cover that the nuns wore. Slowly she pulled it off reveling a clean shaven head. The Doctor hadn't even noticed until then, that her eye brows are drawn on and the sickly paleness of her skin.

His jaw dropped, "You're-"

"I'm not a nun, no. My name is Penelope Schweets. I'm just 19 years old and have only known my room at the hospital. I've hardly left that place, I was too sick to even go to my parents funerals. I've never really had any friends, at least any that live long enough. All my friends are dying young. I have no friends, no boyfriend and no chance for a future. My only living relative is my aunt who plopped me into some so called high end hospital in London the disappeared from my life. And to top it all off, two months ago, they told me I have eight months to live. You call yourself the Doctor, but I know there's nothing you can do to save me, but just let me have this one moment to see the world before I die?"

The Doctor blinked a few times before straightening up. He fixed his tie, then offered a smile, "I'm still taking you either way," he assured her with a large grin. He turned a few more knobs, spun a dial then hit the panel with a hammer. He rested the hammer on his shoulder, "And I'll show you more than just the world. I'll show you the universe if you like," he said with a wink.

Penelope clapped her hands together, "Really?"

The Doctor rose a brow, "Look for yourself," he said, gesturing towards the doors.

Penelope hesitated towards the door and slowly pushed it open. With a loud gasp she exited.

The Doctor followed right behind her, hands in his pockets as he walked up beside her.

"Is this the future?"

The Doctor nodded, "Penelope Schweets, welcome to New Earth."


	3. 3: Cats

"New Earth?" she gasped.

The Doctor gave a smirk, "Indeed. It's the year 5,000,000,104," he told her, then under his breath, he added, "Hopefully it won't be totally messed up this time."

"What?"

The Doctor shook his head, "I didn't say anything."

"But you just said-"

"Naaah, I didn't say a word," he denied, moving along the beach.

"Oh, what's that building?" Penelope asked, pointing towards the giant building ahead of them.

"No idea, let's go check it out," he replied, gesturing for her to follow.

Penelope caught up to him, placing the nun coif and veil back over her head, keeping pace with the Doctor.

"No need to put that back on, you look fine," he assured her.

"Say what you want," she said in a slight snappy tone, "You might be OK with it, but others are known to stare," she added. "Besides...my head is cold. It's breezy on this beach."

They entered the building, both taking in the sights.

"Wow," the Doctor started, "They came pretty far in 50 years."

Penelope shot him a hard stare, "I thought you said you've never been here before?"

"No, I said I didn't know what the building was. That's not a total lie, things change with time, who knows what this place could have become. Last time I was here this play was run down and scattered with bones, ash and rubble. Well and cats of course," he glanced around the lobby, "Still has cats I suppose."

"So, you've been here before?"

"Twice actually," he looked at her, "Though, last time I was here, I got to watch a good friend die," he let out a long sigh, "He used his last breath to save this planet." His face lit up suddenly, "Oh look, they've added a shop," he exclaimed.

"Doctor?" Penelope bit her lip a bit hesitant, "Could we perhaps go somewhere else? This isn't quite what I had in mind when you said you'd show me the universe. I've been in enough hospitals to last me a life time. We'll an average life time."

The Doctor stared at her for a moment and Penelope swore she caught a hint of sadness behind his eyes, "Right, just here for a quick stop, then we'll be on our way."

"Excuse me, sister," A soft voice came from behind her. Penelope turned to face the direction of the voice, to meet face to face with a cat person.

Her eyes widened as she took a step back. "Doctor..."

He came up beside her, "Nothing to worry about," he smiled, "Looks like they're still the main inhabitants of New Earth," he rested his hands on Penelope's shoulders, "Don't mind her, she's not from around here. She's not eve from a church...her planet's attire is just similar to that of a church," he said, explaining to the young cat woman.

"Oh? Where's that?" the young cat woman asked curiously.

The Doctor pursed his lips in thought before answering, "Pan...dora...? Pandora, yes," he replied.

"But sir, I've been to Pandora, it's full of-"

"Did I say Pandora? I meant Hogwarts," he corrected, "And please, not Sir, I'm the Doctor."

"But Hog-"

The Doctor cut Penelope off with a shush.

"Sounds lovely," the cat woman smiled before walking off.

"Doctor," a woman called.

The Doctor turned at his name then approached the desk.

"Your request came back. They said for all you've done for New Earth and its people, we have no problem doing it absolutely free of charge," the woman beamed.

"Molto Bene!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Penelope! he called, beckoning her over.

Penelope came up to the counter looking at him expectantly.

"So, the beauty of being in the year 5,000,000,104 is they have all sorts of cures for billions of diseases, even one you've never heard of, but the most important one you should care about, is cancer. They are prepped and ready to cure you right now and it won't take more than-"

"Doctor..." Penelope interrupted.

"Don't worry, it's free of charge," he assure her, "So, we make a quick stop, get you cured and-"

"Doctor," Penelope cut him off.

The Doctor frowned, but didn't say another word.

"I've already accepted death," she said in a low tone, "I have for a long time. It's like I said, I only have six months left and that's all I've ever known in life. Pain and sickness, living day to day in a sterile room, always in bed. _We want to make sure you're as comfortable as possible_. That's what they've always told me. I know it's not what most people my age think of when they think of how they'll spend the rest of their life, but I've accepted it a long time ago. To change that now, so suddenly...I don't know how I'd cope," she shook her head, "It's like people who win the lottery and blow it all in a few months, ending up in a worse state than how they started out."

"But I can help you," the Doctor objected.

Tears escaped Penelope's eyes, "Yes...you can. You can help me by showing me the universe, like you promised. You can allow me to live what life I have left through adventure, Doctor, not through futuristic science. What fun is that?" she forced a smile onto her face, which the Doctor returned, though like her, it didn't quite reach his eyes. "So please, Doctor, try to understand and support my decision."

The Doctor kept his eyes with hers. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, "Ok," he nodded. He turned his attention back to the woman behind the counter, "Never mind on that," he beamed then smiled down at Penelope, "Allons-y!" he said about facing.

Penelope gawked at him as he made for the exit. "Just like that?" she asked running up to him.

The Doctor glanced over at him, "Yup," he smiled, "Just like that. You want an adventure right? Then let's go find one."

"Strange man," she mumbled to herself.


End file.
